Get ‘Em While You Can: $30 Passes for 30th Annual King Biscuit Blues Festival

The 30th annual King Biscuit Blues Festival is scheduled for Oct. 7-10 in historic Helena. If you’re planning to attend, pay attention! You don’t want to MISS THIS!

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Through July 15, three-day wristbands for Main Stage performances at King Biscuit will be available for $30. Beginning July 16, wristbands will be $50 for the three-day pass. Individual day wristbands can be purchased for $30 for Thursday, Friday or Saturday. This is a deal you just can’t “beat with a stick!"​

 Again this year, the festival kicks off with Warm Up Wednesday and the Michael Burks Memorial Jam on Oct. 7, an opportunity for people to experience a “behind-the-scenes” look at how the festival comes together. Food and beverage vendors will be open to the public and festival wristbands (required to access the Main Stage area) and Blues Bucks will also be available for purchase. The Michael Burks Memorial Jam takes place on the Main Stage beginning at 6 p.m. and admission is free.

Thursday, Oct. 8, features performances on the Main Stage by Danny Lancaster, the Sterling Billingsley Band, Brandon Santini, Zac Harmon, the Kentucky Headhunters, and the Cate Brothers. Thursday night’s headliner is the one-and-only Bobby Rush. He’s mesmerized crowds in Europe and Japan, but Bobby is always most “at home” when playing blues in the Mississippi Delta region. Born in Louisiana, Bobby moved to Chicago in the mid-50s, where he performed with the likes of Freddie King, Luther Allison and Earl Hooker. Rush has been performing all over the world for more than 50 years, but he shows no signs of stopping.

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The musical lineup for the Main Stage on Friday, Oct. 9, includes Marcus “Mookie” Cartwright, Charlotte Taylor & Gypsy Rain, Super Chikan, Reba Russell, Samantha Fish, Anson Funderburgh and the Paul Thorn Band. Headlining Friday night is Jimmie Vaughan and the Tilt-a-Whirl Band featuring Lou Ann Barton, a long-time collaborator of Vaughan’s. Jimmie, older brother of blues legend Stevie Ray Vaughan, was a founding member of The Fabulous Thunderbirds. Barton was an original member of Double Trouble, Stevie Ray Vaughan’s band.

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Saturday’s Main Stage music includes performances by David Kimbrough, Earnest “Guitar” Roy, Don McMinn, the Kenny Smith Band, Larry McCray, Andy T & Nick Nixon, and Ruthie Foster. Closing out the evening is Taj Mahal, returning to the Biscuit for the third time. Born in Massachusetts, his father was a jazz pianist, composer and arranger of Caribbean descent, and his mother was a gospel singing schoolteacher from South Carolina. Both parents encouraged him to take pride in their diverse ethnic and cultural roots. He did and his music is the perfect blend of both cultures.